Marathons in California, 2026-27

15 of the 35 courses list a net drop of zero: the start and finish are at the same elevation on the certificate. They are ZombieRunner Halloween, Two Cities Marathon, Santa Clarita Marathon, The Jed Smith Ultra Classic, Buzz Marathon, Oakland Marathon presented by Kaiser Permanente, Modesto Marathon, Seaside Marathon, Shoreline Marathon, The San Francisco Marathon, Camarillo Marathon, Humboldt Bay Marathon, Santa Rosa Marathon, Surfers Point Marathon and Orange Curtain.

The biggest net drop on the list belongs to REVEL Big Bear: up to 5,072 ft (1,546 m). Courses with 1,500 ft (457.2 m) or more of net drop get time added to Boston qualifying marks: REVEL Big Bear (+10:00 index).

Net drop compares only the start and the finish. It says nothing about the hills in between, so a zero-drop course can still climb.

7 of the 35 races are in Los Angeles and Orange County.

• Santa Clarita Marathon, Santa Clarita: Nov 15, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• Surf City Marathon, Huntington Beach: Feb 7, 2027; net drop -8 ft
• SOCAL River Marathon, Yorba Linda: Feb 27, 2027; net drop 354 ft
• ASICS Los Angeles Marathon, Los Angeles: Mar 7, 2027; net drop 217 to 402 ft
• Hoag OC Marathon, Newport Beach: May 2, 2027; net drop 105 ft
• Orange Curtain, Cerritos: June (date TBA); net drop 0 ft
• 2XU Long Beach Marathon, Long Beach: October (next date TBA); net drop -10 ft

3 of the 35 races are in San Diego County.

• Carlsbad Marathon, Carlsbad: Jan 17, 2027; net drop 2 to 16 ft
• Rock 'n' Roll San Diego, San Diego: Jun 6, 2027; net drop 282 ft
• Wicked Fast Marathon San Diego, Alpine: June (date TBA); net drop 1,167 ft

5 of the 35 races are in the San Francisco Bay Area (including Napa and Sonoma counties).

• ZombieRunner Halloween, San Jose: Oct 31, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• Napa Valley Marathon, Calistoga: Mar 7, 2027; net drop 303 ft
• Oakland Marathon presented by Kaiser Permanente, Oakland: Mar 21, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• The San Francisco Marathon, San Francisco: Jul 25, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Santa Rosa Marathon, Santa Rosa: Aug 22, 2027; net drop 0 ft

6 of the 35 races are in Ventura County.

• Ventura Marathon, Ojai: Feb 21, 2027; net drop 942 ft
• Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, Ojai: Apr 18, 2027; net drop 735 to 752 ft
• Seaside Marathon, Ventura: Jun 6, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Shoreline Marathon, Ventura: Jul 11, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Camarillo Marathon, Camarillo: Aug 1, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Surfers Point Marathon, Ventura: Sep 5, 2027; net drop 0 ft

The USATF database also lists active marathon certificates for these events, but we could not confirm a current race on an official site, so they are not in the table. Names are as the certificates give them.

• Running with the Bears Marathon - 2021 (Durham)
• Morgan Hill Marathon 2017 (Morgan Hill)
• USA Women's Marathon (Palm Desert)
• Parkway Marathon (Sacramento)

Some California marathons are missing because their certificates have lapsed. On October 11, 2026 the database held no active marathon certificate for these events; the newest one listed expired in the year shown: Revel Canyon City Marathon, Azusa (2025); Lake Tahoe Marathon, South Lake Tahoe (2025); Operation Jack Marathon, Playa del Rey (2025). If you are chasing a qualifying time, ask the race whether the current course is certified.

USATF lists 91 active marathon course certificates in California, covering 46 events. We list the races we could confirm, sorted by date, with each course's net drop from start to finish. The 4 certified events we could not tie to a current race are named at the end.

We started from the USATF course certification database: every course in California certified at the marathon distance with an active status, searched on October 11, 2026. We grouped the 91 certificates into 46 events, then opened each race's official website for its name, city and next date. A race is listed only when its official site shows a marathon in its current or most recent edition. Dates come from the official sites; where a site has not published the next date, the table shows the month of the last edition.

Every race here has a USATF-certified course on file, and a certified course is what the B.A.A. requires for a qualifying time (Boston Marathon qualifying times). Where the race does not say which of its certified courses it runs, the table says Check. Certification codes and drops are facts from the USATF database (certifiedroadraces.com), which the USATF Road Running Technical Council maintains. Race directors can change courses, so confirm with the race before you build a season around one.